Skipping Rocks
by MetalCloud
Summary: You're not flicking your wrist right." On the last day of her seventh year, Lily Evans shares a moment of peace with Regulus Black. Gen. Please read and review.


A/N: Not sure how I feel about this. It didn't come out as well as it sounded in my head, but oh well. One of the most random ideas I've ever written down, but anyway. Lily talks to Regulus on the last day of her seventh year. This is not a slash! Just a random conversation.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am nothing.

Skipping Rocks

Regulus Black stared out across the lake, occasionally attempting to skip a rock across the surface. They always sunk.

It was the last day of his sixth year, but that wasn't what he was mediating on. He was more concerned with the fact that it was Sirius's last day. Sirius. His brother. He knew he'd never see him again now. After today, he wouldn't even see Sirius in the corridors, hear that familiar laugh, never get a glimpse of him again, except, perhaps, on opposite sides of a battlefield, fighting each other, aiming curses at each other.

He threw another rock. It sunk.

He could remember when they were younger, they'd been so close. Then came Hogwarts, and tore them apart.

He squeezed a pebble in his fist and threw it furiously at the water. It landed with a great splash, sending water up in smaller arcs and spattering him with cold lake water.

"You're not getting your wrist right."

He looked up at the voice, to see a girl standing next to him, dark red hair glinting like fire in the setting sun. Oh. It was that Mudblood Potter was dating.

"Look," she crouched down next to him, scooping up her own rock, "It's all in the wrist." She demonstrated, sending the rock over the water with a flick of her wrist. It skipped four times before sinking.

"See?" She smiled over at him.

"What do you want?" he muttered.

"To talk to you, actually." He glanced at her in surprise.

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Well, you are my friend's brother, if you hadn't noticed," she commented dryly, "And we've never spoken. There are things we need to discuss before the boys and I leave."

"Then why doesn't Sirius come to talk to me?" Regulus asked accusatorily.

"He doesn't know I'm here, and that's the way it's going to stay. All the other seventh years are in the common room getting smashed. No one will us until James comes looking for me, and I told him I needed a bit of quiet." She gave Regulus a look that said 'I'm going to hurt you if you tell' and he wondered vaguely why she wasn't in Slytherin.

"What do you want to talk about?" he grumbled moodily, sending another rock over the water. It sunk.

"You're still not getting your wrist right," she said absently. "And I want to talk about you, and by extension, Sirius."

He huffed irritably.

"He worries about you," she sighed. "He doesn't say anything, but I can tell."

Regulus snorted, but she ignored him and continued regardless. "So I'm here to tell you to remember that. You are thinking about joining the Death Eaters, most Slytherins over fifteen are." She sighed, as if that thought brought her great misery. "And I'm not about to tell you not to. I'm not going to tell you what to do. It's your own life, and if you want to destroy it, so be it."

Regulus started at the choice of phrasing, but she ignored him again and continued with her monologue.

"But if you do, I'd like you to please remember it will destroy your brother. It will kill him. He still loves you, even though he doesn't show it. He won't admit it. He's got too much pride. He's such an idiot…" she trailed off fondly for a moment, before coming out of her reverie and continuing, "Also, I've been watching you over the years you've been here. And I've got to say I don't think you're really Death Eater material. You're more like your brother than you realise. You're not evil. You're just too…noble."

Regulus was watching her with his mouth open and, to his disgust, could see what Sirius saw in her. She noticed his eyes on her and turned to smile at him.

"I'm not going to force you to make a choice," she said again thoughtfully. "But if…if you decide to go against your parents…Sirius will support you. I know he will. And so will I."

He glanced at her in surprise. She smiled that cheeky smile again.

"Mr Black, I don't care who it is. I just don't like seeing people have their lives ruined by their families. Maybe it's the Gryffindor in me coming out, but it's not good and it's not fair, and it can destroy people. This kind of thing can ruin the relationship between siblings, and you will regret it for the rest of your life. Believe me, I know."

She stared off into the distance for a moment, before shaking her head, as though to rid it of unwanted thoughts, and stood up.

"Just think about it? Okay?"

She smiled at him, and gave him a salute. "If you don't mind, I have four thoroughly drunken troublemakers to attend to by now. Goodbye, Mr Black."

Regulus nodded. "Goodbye, Miss Evans."

She smiled once again, and Regulus watched as Lily made her way back to the castle. Only when she was inside did Regulus turn his attention back to the rippling waters of the lake. He wouldn't move for several hours; he had some thinking to do.

Picking up another pebble, he aimed, and skipped it across the water with a flick of his wrist. This time, it didn't sink.

A/N: There you are. I've always felt that Lily and Regulus have a bit in common, and I've never seen a fic with them as the central characters, so of course, I had to write one. Now review. Feed my addiction. Reviews make happy writers, and happy writers give out free metaphorical cookies.


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